Facts and figures for Libya

Tuesday

Feb 22, 2011 at 12:01 AMFeb 22, 2011 at 10:19 PM

Here are facts and figures for Libya regarding population, government and economy, according to the CIA Factbook. Also, data on religious restrictions in Libya from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Staff reports

Facts and figures for Libya

Population: More than 6,461,000

Life expectancy: 77.47 years

Religions: Sunni Muslim (97 percent); other (3 percent)

Government: “In theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in practice, an authoritarian state.”

Economy: Libya largely relies on the oil sector, which makes up 95 percent of export earnings, 25 percent of the gross national product and 80 percent of government revenue. Construction and manufacturing make up 20 percent of the GDP. The country imports 75 percent of its food, as poor climate and soil conditions hinder agriculture.

2010 GDP: $77.91 billion

-- CIA Factbook

Pew Forum’s Global Restrictions on Religion study attempts to “measure” the restrictions on religion with two indexes: a government restrictions index and a social hostilities index.

The study shows that Libya ranks 20th out of the world’s 198 countries for government restrictions on religion, and it shows that Libya ranks in the “moderate” range for social hostilities toward religion when compared with the rest of the world.

Overall, when considering both indexes of measure by region, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest levels of religious restriction.

Among the 20 countries in the region, Libya is tied with Sudan for fourth place on the government restrictions index. Both countries scored 5.6 on a scale of 1 to 10. Saudi Arabia (8.4) ranks first, Egypt (7.6) ranks second –– though it remains to be seen if recent commitments for government overhaul will reduce Egypt’s ranking –– and Algeria (6.2) ranks third. Morocco and Jordan (5.3) are tied for fifth.

However, on the social hostilities scale, Libya scored a relatively low number of 2.2, putting it in 15th place in the region. In comparison, Saudi Arabia and Sudan scored 6.8, Egypt scored 6.5 and Algeria scored 4.4. Iraq came in first with 9.4.